As Hell In A Cell approaches, I’ve decided to take a seat, and remember all the great moments that have taken place in WWE’s most demonic structure.
The first question that comes to mind when I think about the Hell In A Cell is: Who the heck would come up with something like this?
Jim Cornette
In a shoot interview, he talked about the timeline of 1997, Cornette described this concept as a combination of a cage which surrounded the majority of the ringside area (this was a cage design which was popular in Memphis wrestling promotions), and the cage used in both the NWA and WCW for their War Games matches (which had a top on the cage).
WWE’s Hell In A Cell match has become the soul survivor as the most demonic structure in wrestling. Personally, this is my favorite type of match when it comes to “gimmick” matches. There is nothing like watching two or more competitors stand in the ring and both looking up watching the Hell In A Cell lowering down on top of them.
Many have lost their careers and years off their careers in this match. Most notably, former WWE referee, Tim White was forced to retirement from WWE, after getting injured inside the Hell In A Cell.
The Hell In A Cell is nothing to joke about. It’s Satan’s Playground… But who are the masters of it?
Someone who’s a master of the Hell In A Cell needs to be looked at as a pioneer of this match. Someone who defines this match. Someone who isn’t afraid of this match.
The first person that deserves to be called a “Master of Satan’s Playground” is The Undertaker.
The demon of death valley is unquestionably one of the pioneers of this match, and has made this match what it is today. With countless classics inside this steel structure, Taker has turned this structure from Satan’s Playground, into his. In 12 appearances inside the Hell In A Cell, The Undertaker has been able to punish his opponents over the decades of his dominance.
The second person that deserves to be called, “Master of Satan’s Playground” is Mick Foley.
On the other hand, Mick Foley never really “dominated” anyone in the Hell In A Cell match, in fact, he’s been in four HIAC matches, and has never won one. Even without a win, Foley is looked as a pioneer of the Hell In A Cell match due to his willingness to make it a good match. There is no one in WWE history that put his body on the line more than Mick Foley when it comes to Hell In A Cell matches.
Mankind and The Undertaker without a doubt had the biggest shock factor ever in a Hell In A Cell match. Without this moment, I don’t know if the HIAC match would be as popular as it is today. This match took place at the King of the Ring PPV in 1998, where The Undertaker and Mankind went for 17 minutes, but it was the craziest 17 minutes of all time.
Not only did Mankind get sent off the cell into an announce table, but was later choke-slammed through the cell, and landed on the mat, as a steel chair landed on his face and knocked out several teeth. That wasn’t all through, as the end came near, Undertaker slammed Foley onto thumbtacks, and then delivered a tombstone to win the match.
I don’t know if this was the best HIAC match of all time, but it is without a doubt the most memorable one.
The Undertaker isn’t a pioneer just because of this match, but because he was involved in the very first HIAC match at Bad Blood 1997 against Shawn Michaels.
When we look at the stunts in this match TODAY, it almost looks conservative, but back then, this was huge. No one had seen something like this in WWE before. It was new, fresh, and the fans in St. Louis were into it. This match set the tone for what was to come. It was a call to the locker room and WWE management that WWE can go “Extreme”, and pull it off better than the competition. It also showed that WWE had confidence in their two “franchise” guys at the time.
The third person I’m allowing into the “Masters of Satan’s Playground” is the Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels.
HBK has been in 4 Hell In A Cell matches, and has won 3 of them. He’s won 75% percent of his matches inside the steel structure, and like the Undertaker, was one of the pioneers of this match. Even though Shawn’s match with the Undertaker inside HIAC was pretty good, his match with Triple H at Bad Blood 2004, is my all-time favorite HIAC match.
This was the final chapter in the Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels rivalry that dominated through-out the mid-2000s. For me growing up, this was my favorite feud of all time. For me, this was my Hulk vs. Andre, or Michaels vs. Bret.
Speaking of The Game, that leads me to the fourth and final “Master of Satan’s Playground”, the King of Kings, Triple H.
In 9 appearances in the HIAC match, Triple H has won 6 of them.
It’s no question that Triple H is one of the pioneers of this match, and has been a defining superstar for it. His battles with Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels, and the Undertaker inside HIAC have been some of his best moments in WWE.
At one point in time, Triple H was undefeated (4-0) inside Hell In A Cell, going into his match with Batista at Vengeance in 2005 for the World Title. When this match came around, it was a shock that Batista broke Triple H’s streak inside HIAC.
This was Batista’s shinning moment against Triple H, and put this feud to bed. It was really cool to see Triple H lose to Batista in his own match, where he was undefeated at the time.
Who said Triple H doesn’t put anyone over?
The funny thing about the Hell In A Cell is that all four pioneers are either retired, or semi-retired. Three of the four met one last time inside a Hell In A Cell match at WrestleMania 28, where Triple H took on The Undertaker, with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee.
It was defined as the “End of an Era”…
And it was the end of an era on two different levels. It was the end due to the fact that these were three of the biggest stars from the Attitude Era, and they were the only ones left. It was also the end of the Hell In A Cell pioneers. These three were arguably the ones who built this stipulation, and if they were going to end it, they wanted it to end inside the house they built, Hell In A Cell.
Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, and Mick Foley are the pioneers and Masters of Satan’s Playground. They paved the way for the Hell In A Cell match today, and for guys like Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose to shine (hopefully) inside of it. The match is held with such high regard that it has it’s own pay-per-view now. It’s a tribute to these four men, who helped make it so great.